Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Many people of a younger generation will be appalled as they read in today's newspapers about the treatment of Joanne Hayes 34 years ago by agencies of the State, including An Garda Síochána and the Lynch tribunal, which was established by the Oireachtas and by the State. They will read of the very hurtful manner in which this young woman was treated, causing enormous distress to her and her family. The complete lack of empathy shown at that time by agencies of this State was shameful and is a damning indictment of the institutions of the State and of society at that time. She was wrongly accused of murdering a baby and was put through an horrendous tribunal, which was meant to inquire into the failures of An Garda Síochána in its conduct of the investigation but which essentially turned into a cross-examination of Joanne Hayes herself. In the words of Brendan Kennelly, one of our most famous poets, the tribunal was like a "medieval witch hunt" with the victims burning at the stake and the crowd dancing around the fire and that just about sums it up.

It is interesting that on the release of State papers, people will often say that it was a different era and that everything is attributable to the era. Sometimes that is true and, in this case, it partially explains some of what went on and the context. However, even at the time the then Garda Commissioner, Larry Wren, described the performance of gardaí as revealed in the State papers as "grossly negligent". There are also lessons for us today. There is no room for an absence of professionalism in agencies of the State in terms of investigations, the conduct of tribunals and so on. Notwithstanding the culture of the era and the mores of the time, there are still very significant lessons to be learned by the agencies of the State today in terms of how we deal with citizens in our society and the moral approach we can take.

I understand that the Taoiseach has issued an apology on behalf of the State to Ms Hayes and her family, which I welcome. Deputy John Brassil has spoken to the Hayes family, who are very anxious that their privacy would be respected. Joanne Hayes and her family do not want to relive the horrors of what happened back then again. On their behalf, I am making a general plea that their privacy would be respected at this difficult time. I ask the Tánaiste whether the State, without any negotiation, will adequately and properly compensate Joanne Hayes for what happened. The State should not put her under duress or force her to go through any process but should do the honourable thing by acknowledging the terrible hurt that was caused and providing adequate, appropriate and fair compensation.

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